Banning

[Ahmed]

AsSalamAlaikum, peace. 

"O Prophet! Why ban you that which Allah has made lawful for you, seeking to please your wives? And Allah is Forgiving, Merciful."  66:1.

what is the detail behind this question?  What did the Prophet ban?

 

[N. Truth Seeker]

Walaykom As Salam.   

The reference of “banning” is the Prophet’s decision to abstain (that is, banning it for himself) something which Allah has made Halal for him and everyone. 

It’s a reference to something personal within the Prophet’s (pbuh) family which Allah has not specified.  Therefore it cannot be confirmed.  People have come up with different opinions.  The commonest opinion says that the Prophet (pbuh) visited someone’s home where he was offered some honey to taste, and he (pbuh) spent more time than usual in that visit. When two of the Prophet’s (pbuh) wives learned about this visit, they schemed and told the Prophet (pbuh) when they met him soon after, that the odor from his breath was that of some rank smelling food. The Prophet (pbuh) was confused and replied that he had tasted only honey.  But they continued pretending to be in distressed.  Thereafter the Prophet (pbuh) promised that he would never eat honey again.  In other words, the Prophet prohibited himself from eating something which is perfectly Halal in the Sight of Allah.   I repeat, this is just an opinion from the people.  The actual facts are known to Allah alone.  Whatever the fact is, it’a not something necessary for our guidance.  The only aspect we need to know and remember from this Verse 66:1 is that we must not prohibit anything which is not prohibited by Allah.  This is the moral lesson conveyed in Verse 66:1.

The other point which involves a useful analysis on this topic worth knowing is from Verse 66:3.   The Prophet (pbuh) had confided, (probably partly), the event in discussion to one of his wives and she later divulged it.  The Prophet (pbuh) came to know of this disclosure and told his wife about her betrayal of sorts. She was surprised and asked how he knew about it; the Prophet (pbuh)  answered  “The All-Knowing, the All-Aware told me.” (V.66:3).  This portion of the Verse is often misinterpreted by many traditionalists as an evidence that Divine information was also sent to the Prophet (pbuh) outside the Quran.  Such a concept is not correct, certainly not in the sense the traditionalists presume.  To know its correct elucidation, please read the comprehensive analysis of Verse 66:3 by one of our contributors titled “The All-Knowing, the All-Aware told me.”

[Ahmed]

I thank you for your kind and intelligent explanation and also the ref to a contributor's post.  These helped me a lot.  God bless you.   Ramadan mubarak.

[N. Truth Seeker]

You're welcome.   Ramadan Mubarak to you too.